Data on youth participation

image

IPU’s research on youth participation in parliaments has produced a wealth of data and has generated a series of recommendations to enhance youth participation. Here are some of the main findings presented in the IPU’s 2016 report on Youth Participation in National Parliaments.

Key findings

Young people under 30 make up less than 2 per cent of the world’s MPs.

About 30 per cent of the world’s single and lower houses of parliament have no MPs aged under 30.

More than 80 per cent of the world’s upper houses of parliament have no MPs aged under 30.

Not a single upper house of parliament anywhere in the world has more than 10 per cent of its members aged under 30.

Trends for different age groups

1.9 per cent of the world’s MPs are aged under 30 – up from 1.6 per cent in 2014.

14.2 per cent of the world’s MPs are aged under 40 – up from 12.9 per cent in 2014.

26 per cent of the world’s MPs are aged under 45 – up from 23.9 per cent in 2014.

Male MPs outnumber their female counterparts in every age group.

Encouraging signs

The gender imbalance is less pronounced among younger MPs, where the male/female ratio is 60:40.

Recent elections have seen a global trend towards more young MPs aged under 45.

Youth quotas, lower eligibility ages, proportional representation and inclusive parliaments are all factors that increase the number of young MPs.

Best performers

Ecuador, Finland, Norway and Sweden are the only parliaments in the world where more than 10 per cent of members are aged under 30.

Andorra, Denmark and Ecuador have the highest proportion of MPs aged under 40 in lower or single houses of parliament.

Belgium, Bhutan and Kenya have the highest proportion of MPs aged under 40 in upper houses of parliament.

More than 60 per cent of MPs in the unicameral parliament of Andorra and in the lower houses of parliament of Ethiopia and Oman are aged under 45.

More than 80 per cent of MPs in the upper house of the parliament of Bhutan are aged under 45.

Youth and policy-making in parliaments

Networks of young MPs, as well as caucuses that promote youth issues in public policy, are present in a small but growing number of parliaments.

Parliamentary committees dealing with youth issues exist in the vast majority of countries, but most share their remit with other subjects such as sports, education, the family or vulnerable groups.

Parliamentarians under the age of 45 chair less than 25 per cent of those committees, and form a majority in less than one third.

Other strategies to engage young people in parliaments

Youth parliaments exist in half the countries surveyed. Some have formal ties to the national parliament but most are coordinated by non-governmental organizations, government ministries, schools or other local authorities.

New technologies and online tools are helping citizens, including young people, to understand and monitor the work of parliaments, and are also boosting accessibility and transparency.